Carrot Cake Overnight Oats (Naturally Sweetened!)

Start off your day with these delicious and nutritious overnight oats! Inspired by classic carrot cake flavors but made entirely with whole foods like oats, carrots, raisins (or a Medjool date), and almond butter. Plus, they’re also sweetened solely with raisins, so there’s absolutely no added sugars! Subtly spiced, packed full of carrots (#TeamVeg), and topped with crunchy walnuts, raisins, and shredded coconut to add satisfying textures and round out the tasty carrot cake flavors.

I love it when my breakfast leaves me feeling satisfied and nourished, and for that reason, overnight oats (along with whole grain toasts and oatmeal) are one of my go-to breakfasts. Well, that and the fact that they’re tasty, easy to make, and require virtually no work in the mornings. 😂 If you’re anything like me and can barely function in the mornings, or even if you can function in the mornings but you prefer to spend your energy doing literally anything other than making breakfast, it might be time to hop onto #TeamOvernightOats.

Admittedly, I’m a big fan of overnight oats, but I know that not everyone likes them. And that’s totally fine - you don’t have to! But if you’re looking to get into nutritious breakfasts that require *no work* in the mornings, overnight oats could become your friend. Plus overnight oats are an incredibly versatile format - ranging from flavors like sweet potato pie overnight oats to raspberry chocolate “Nutella” overnight oats, so you’ll never have to grow bored of eating the same thing every day!

The concept of carrot cake-flavored overnight oats isn’t new - just Google it and you’ll see it’s been done countless times. (Then again, most things have!) But what sets apart this particular recipe for overnight oats is that they don’t have any added sugars (they’re naturally sweetened using a nifty trick ;)) and they’re made entirely with whole foods, meaning every ingredient in them is nutritious and health-promoting. And if that sounds alarming in any way, don’t worry - I’d never publish a recipe that doesn’t also deliver on flavor. No, they don’t taste exactly like carrot cake, because, quite simply, they are clearly not carrot cake (but if you’re looking for a carrot cake recipe, I gotchu), but they are quite tasty and reminiscent of those carrot cake flavors and textures!

Why You’ll Love these Overnight Oats

Incredibly nutritious and satisfying. These overnight oats are made entirely with whole plant foods - whole grains, nuts and seeds, vegetables, fruit, and possibly even some legumes, if you use soy milk to make them! This means they’re packed with all the fiber and nutrients found inside those foods!

Textured! The problem with most overnight oats? They’re mushy. Like, so incredibly mushy that eating them is reminiscent of chewing on freshly mixed wet plaster (speaking from imagination and definitely NOT experience here 😂). And yes, while it’s impossible to not have a somewhat mushy-textured filling (since, by definition, overnight oats are just soaked oats), there’s no reason they need to be 100% mush. In fact, they shouldn’t be. Food should always have varied textures - it’s part of what makes it interesting and satisfying! So to make sure these overnight oats are enjoyable to eat, they’ve got…you guessed it: textures! Not only do they have little bits of shredded carrot throughout them, but toppings like walnuts, raisins, and coconut add crunchiness, chewiness, and flaked bits.

Infused with carrot cake flavors. It’s not just about the textures; flavor is (obviously) equally important! Spices, almond butter, vanilla extract, and (blended) raisins or dates, along with those textured bits of walnuts, whole raisins, carrots, and coconut infuse the oat base with carrot cake-inspired flavors!

Naturally sweetened. Notice how I mentioned “blended” raisins or dates just above? Here’s the deal - by blending the raisins or a Medjool date with the plant milk before adding it into the oats, we infuse the natural sugars found inside the raisins to sweeten the plant milk mixture, so there’s no need to use any sweeteners like brown sugar or maple syrup to sweeten these. ~*Magic!*~ 🪄✨ But not really - it’s the same concept as adding a date to smoothies to make them sweeter. And by using a whole food (in this case, raisins or dates) to sweeten the oats, this retains their fiber, nutrients, and vitamins!

Easy to make. I’ve said this before, but if you want a nutritious breakfast that takes 0-60 seconds to prep in the morning, it doesn’t get any easier than overnight oats. Sure, you technically offload all the work onto the night before, but the prep itself is quite easy and relatively quick! Just add all the ingredients into a jar, mix it up, and stick it in the fridge overnight to soak. In the morning, simply sprinkle on some toppings and voila, breakfast is ready!

Just like my recipe for sweet potato pie overnight oats, these do require an extra step of using the blender (to infuse the non-dairy milk with the dried fruit so we can sweeten the oats without adding any sugars) and shredding some carrots, but that’s about the largest effort involved in the preparation process.

Ingredient Overview

Rolled oats. The base ingredient of overnight oats! Oats are a whole grain that’s packed with lots of vitamins, nutrients, fiber, and protein, making them an incredibly nutritious food to start your day off with. Not to mention they’re also delicious!

Ground flax(seed). Not only does ground flax thicken the texture of the oats, it also gives them a big nutrient boost! In addition to adding a bit of protein and fiber, flax is one of the richest sources of essential omega-3 fatty acids, and it’s also associated with countless more health benefits. I always aim to incorporate a tablespoon of flax into my meals every day, and these overnight oats tick that box! (Smoothies are another easy way to incorporate flax seeds daily!)

Vanilla extract and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves). To infuse the oats with warming carrot cake spices!

Carrots. Finely shredded, to add in the namesake carrot element. Carrots are packed with antioxidants and vitamins, especially vitamin A, which is extremely important for eye health! And while there’s not a ton of carrots in there, considering these do add some veg into my breakfasts, I consider it a win.

Non-dairy milk. To soak the oats and add creaminess! My go-to milk for overnight oats is - fittingly - oat milk, but you can use whatever non-dairy milk you love!

Thompson raisins OR a Medjool date. Blended with the non-dairy milk to sweeten the oats and infuse some raisin-y (or just sweet!) notes into the overall carrot cake concept. By swapping in raisins or a date, which are whole foods, in place of maple syrup or brown sugar for the sweetener, these overnight oats become more nutritious as they pack in the fiber and nutrients found in raisins/dates, instead of just the sugars you’d get from sweeteners.

Almond butter. For extra creaminess, flavor depth, healthy fats, and a bit of added protein!

Toppings: walnuts, whole raisins, and coconut. To add in textures and round out the whole carrot cake-flavored experience! 🔥 (And don’t even think about skipping the toppings - see the section on textures above.) Not to mention that walnuts are also quite rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including ALA (alpha-linoleic acid), which is beneficial for heart health. And if you’re looking for some extra nutrition, you could also sprinkle on a few hemp seeds. Just make sure you put these toppings on right before eating so they don’t get soggy as the oats sit overnight!